24 Month Old Walking on Her Tip Toes

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what to write here. I know it is hard, but try to wait until you have all the information from all of the therapists before worrying excessively. They should provide you with the information and services your daughter needs to progress, if they find she has a delay. Some of the details you provided do sound "concerning", but some of the other information is more hopeful. Be assured that your daughter will get the help she needs after the evals are completed. Early intervention is the key to any delay, and it sounds like you are doing what needs to be done to receive those services. Keep your chin up and best of luck to you!

V.,

My son did not talk very much till he was 2 years old and because he was an only child he learned how to play by himself at an early age. He is graduating from high school of Sunday and is just fine. Played football, wrestled, and sang in the varsity choir.

Our Doctor said there was 2 reasons why our son probably did not talk much before age two. First he had ear infections all the time, which made it hard to hear us, until he got tubes at age 1 1/2. Second he did not have to talk because he would point and we would get what ever he needed. he said we had to encourage him to talk and ask for things. We had him tested for hearing problems and his gross and fine motor movement but it all came down to the ear infections.
As far as independent playing Our son to this day never likes having friends over (except his best friend). He says "his friends at school are just that, school friends and I don't need them bothering me at home."
As far as sitting in a "w" my sister did that all the time when we were growing up. The doctor told my mom that it is because it is more comfortable for her like that than crossing her legs. As she got older and her skinny legs filled out it changed. But I remember she use to stand all the time on one leg with her other leg bent out. Not any more.
Walking on her toes could be Deep muscular calf problems or the tendons in her calves hurt her so she walks on her toe to take the pain away.

Make sure to get advice from 2 specialist in pediatric development. You can get her ears checked for free at SEDOM (Special Education District for McHenry County)If you have not had that done. If there is any trouble hearing it can throw your whole system off.

Hope all ends up fine,
S.

Both of my girls walked on their toes until I bought them wee squeaks shoes. They have squeakers in the heal which encourages a full step. You can take the squeekers out when you need to. They are super cute and the kids love them.

Site: http://www.wesqueak.net/

Hi V., I was reading through and saw your daughter walks on her tip toes. Have you tried bringing her to a chiropractor that specializes in children? When a child walks on their tip toes it could simply be because their sacrum is rotated a little and there hips are also rotated. If that is the case, a few treatments and she should be walking normal again. I am a chiropractor that specializes in children and pregnant women in Villa Park. If you are interested I would love to help. If I'm too far for you we can find someone closer for you.

hi V.,
Im 40 now and I walked on my toes for quite sometime before my mom figure out the problem. I did not want my feet touching stuff. still to this day I need shoes on. I do not like my feet dirty. I also have a son 5 and a nephew who is 14 both walks on toes. We all have good sensory and motor skills.
The good news is that nothing is REALLY wrong !!!!!! If you put shoes on then this doesn't happen. The speech is probably that your child is not interested in talking. Find something your child likes and see if it motivates her to talking.

If she is talking more...that's a good thing! By calling Easter Seals, it sounds like you have some concerns - follow your instincts but don't wrap yourself up and think your child isn't developing like other kids, because she's not. All children develop differently! My daughter's friend ALWAYS sat in a "w" when she was at my home and she's incredibly flexible to this day-and she's 13! My son went through speech until second grade but had wonderful fine and large motor skills. I remember the speech therapist (at 3 years) becoming concerned w/ my son because he looked at a picture and called a "donut" a "bagel". I told her that he probably didn't know what a donut was because we ate a lot of bagels! It concerned her - OH brother! AND...your child is two! Engaging in play with a "therapist" - a person she has never met before???? She was probably shy! Tip-toeing could be fun to her - or, it could mean something down the road. Don't be a nervous wreck! Take a step back! Good luck!

I noticed this was written a few years back. I am very curious to see how things played out for your child. As I was readin this it described my child to a tee!! Please enlighten me on what you did that helped etc. they want to run all sorts of tests and mabey you could save me from the headache..

I am a PT in Early Intervention. There could be several reasons why she walks on her toes one being to get more sensory input to her joints. She could also just be playing around with this if it's a new skill she picked up. Try not to be stressed out about the evaluations. I obviously don't know your child but kids don't always interact great during evals. It's a strange person putting alot of demands on them in a short period of time. I think I know what train of thought your fears are leading you and I just don't want you to jump the gun before all the evaluations are done. Speech delays can affect kids in different areas. Good luck! Just out of curiosity who was the developmental therapist?

I am willing to bet your daughter is "fine and normal" and maybe has a couple of developmental delays. As the PT pointed out, these evaluations are crazy and not completely accurate portrayals of your child's whole world. It is also really hard to tease out what is personality and what is actual delay. Our evaluators "diagnosed" some things that we knew were not issues, or were just our kid's personality. For instance, they were worried that he didn't respond to his name consistently. But why should he, when Mom will come and get him if he doesn't?

Different evaluators with the same background will have different viewpoints too.

My son was evaluated at 15 months. He also has low tone and "W sits" (drives his PT crazy.) That's a default sitting position that doesn't require a lot of core strength. The tippy-toe walking some therapists might worry means she "doesn't like her feet touching stuff" so she's sensory-adverse, or the other explanation of the PT below (I've heard both.) Or, like the PT said, she could just be experimenting. (I still walk on my tiptoes!!!!)

And yeah, my guy didn't talk except for some words and phrases until one day he just had a language explosion. He also is a shy kid and has to warm up to people before he engages with them. He sounds a lot like your daughter!

So, to sum up -- don't freak out. Get a copy of the report from the DT and speech evaluations. Ask a lot of questions about anything you don't understand, and have your caseworker arrange a PT evaluation if you think that's an issue. Or stick with speech services only (if she qualifies.) I am a huge, huge fan of Early Intervention and it has been very helpful with my son's development, but it can also be hard to navigate. Feel free to e-mail me if you're still worried. :)